Cattle burps

COWS are well-entrenched in the global climate change debate. Cud-chewing animals release methane, a greenhouse gas, when the fibrous matter breaks down and undergoes fermentation in their stomach. Though methane emissions are lower than CO2 ones, they are much more harmful—a kg of the gas has 21 times the effect of a kg of CO2.

Kudankulam meltdown

Letters - April 15, 2012

Authority to fight hunger

US to lead climate coalition to reduce non-CO2 pollutants

The United States will lead a global campaign to reduce short-lived pollutants that aggravate global warming. In an announcement made on February 16, secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced the formation of a new coalition called Climate and Clean Air Coalition that will target non-Co2 pollutants, including methane, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon. She made the announcement in the presence of ministers from four member countries of the coalition. Reduction of these pollutants, according to Clinton, could prevent temperature rise by about half a degree Celsius.

Delhi to go greener

Ambitious as it may sound, but Delhi plans to run its buses on biogas. In collaboration with the Swedish government, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy plans to set up a biogas plant inside Kesopur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) complex in West Delhi. The plant will receive raw gas emitted by the STP and upgrade it so that it can be used to propel vehicles.

Shale gas: hype and reality

WITH dwindling natural gas and oil reserves, the world is increasingly looking for alternative sources of energy. Industry people say shale gas is one promising option. It is the natural gas trapped in shale, a type of flaky sedimentary rock. It already accounts for 22 per cent of USA’s gas supply. By the US energy information administration’s reckoning, shale gas will meet 14 per cent of the world’s gas needs by 2030.

Four-stroke complements CNG

VEHICLES and fuels must be seen as a system and not in isolation. Even a clean fuel like CNG may emit high air pollutants if the vehicle engine technology is inefficient to burn the fuel. This is the message from the first detailed testing of CNG three-wheelers in Delhi by researchers from University of British Columbia, Canada.

But where's the data?

Indian scientists seek clarity on nitrogen emissions

Paddy cultivation reduces global warming

paddy cultivation in India has often been associated with increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Indian scientists have now shown it is the other way round. A study says paddy sequesters organic carbon from the atmosphere thereby reducing global warming.

Cheaper natural gas from oilfields

some microbes have been breaking down petroleum into methane deep within the earth for ages. But we do not know the bacteria or how they do it. A recent study has revealed the answers, with scientists producing methane from petroleum in the laboratory by feeding these microbes.